My Spy
by gladrags2012
Summary: The team are called in to uncover a mole in the Deputy Prime Minister's office. Will the team be able to uphold the MI High reputation ?
1. Chapter 1

**My Spy**

 **MI High are recruited to a special project. They will work with the Deputy Minister for Security to find the mole in her organisation. They have friends and enemies, but will they be able to tell the difference ?**

 **I do not own MI High, any of its characters or rights to anything.**

It was an ordinary day at St. Heart's School. That is to say, not an ordinary day in any ordinary sense of the word. Mr. Flatley, the head teacher, walked the school corridors in blissful ignorance of the top secret spy base in a deep, underground basement beneath the school. He knew nothing about his school caretaker being a secret spy master and even less about several of his pupils actually being undercover government spies. He would have been most shocked to realise that his school was in fact run by his deputy head teacher, Mrs. King. Mrs. King was not a spy, but if she had been, Mr. Flatley would not have noticed that either. All of this made Kenneth Flatley, the ideal head teacher for St. Heart's.

"Morning Mr. F," said Frank London cheerily as Mr. Flatley passed.

"Oh, good morning Frank," said Mr. Flatley cheerily, after having almost walked past the school caretaker. He did notice the flashing yellow light on top of the mop handle. "Er, Frank, your mop appears to be flashing," pointed out Mr. Flatley.

"Oh, is it ?" said Frank, jumping nervously. "Ah, yes, that's to let me know that the cleaning fluid is running out Mr. Flatley," Frank assured him, pushing his glasses back up his nose.

"Oh, how novel ! Well, I'll let you get on Frank. Important floors to clean, and all that," said Mr. Flatley vaguely, before heading off for his registration class.

Frank, glanced around him and pulled out his phone. "Stella ? What is it ?" he asked quietly, his voice having lost its working-class London accent. He listened to a woman speaking, checked his watch and then said, "I'll have them there in ten minutes then," before hanging up.

Before Mr. Flatley had barely reached the end of his register when four pencil tops started to flash red. Their owners quietly concealed them before raising their hands and making various excuses to leave the classroom. Mr. Flatley had become so used to these four pupils having unexpected demands on their school day that he barely murmured a complaint. A minute later Dan, Aneisha, Tom and Keri walked out of a high speed lift, dressed in black spy clothes, into a dimly lit underground room filled with high tech equipment and displays.

"Team ! Good. Stella wants to speak to you," explained Frank, pulling up an image of a stern looking woman on a large central screen.

"Agents, you have a new assignment," began Chief Agent Stella Knight. "You should recognise this woman," she said, and the screen changed to a picture of a different woman.

"Isn't that the new Deputy Prime Minister ?" asked Aneisha.

"Yes, Maureen Brash," said Stella. "She became Deputy after that dreadful affair with the Crime Minister," she explained. "She has asked MI9 to investigate the possibility of a mole within her department. There have been a series of leaks recently which have been traced to her department. She particularly asked for an MI High team to investigate after the Prime Minister told her about your role in capturing the Crime Minister."

Aneisha watched the older woman's body language. She could have sworn that Stella seemed puzzled at the Deputy Prime Minister asking for the MI High team.

Dan was puzzled by something else she had said. "You said, 'an MI High team'," he said.

"What do you mean ?" asked Stella.

"You said 'an MI High' team and not 'the MI High team'," said Dan. "Are there other teams ?" he asked curiously.

"That's nothing to do with you," said Stella sternly. "This is your mission," she paused, "unless of course you don't think you're up to it ?" she asked pointedly.

"What ? No ! I mean, yes, of course we will," stammered Dan, confused by Stella's statement. "Erm," he stumbled, looking at the others.

"Dan's right," said Keri as the others nodded and smiled. "We'll do it."

Ten minutes later, the team were walking through the crowded corridors to their next lesson. "I wonder if we'll get to go to Downing Street," wondered Tom dreamily.

"Well, it makes a change from warehouses and secret underground KORPS bases," grumbled Keri. "Just for once I want to go somewhere where they don't have any rats !" she complained.

"Oh, I don't know. That's not what I've heard about politics," said Dan, straight-faced.

Aneisha giggled and dug him in the ribs. "Better not let the Deputy Prime Minister hear you saying that !" she snorted.

The rest of their day passed in lessons. After lunch, Mr. Flatley was preparing to take his lesson when there was a knock at the door and Mrs. King came in looking flustered. "Mr. Flatley, I've been given this message to pass on to your," she explained, handing Mr. Flatley a piece of paper. He read it, and looked astonished. He read it again.

"Well, class. I am really at a loss for words. Four pupils from this school have been selected to go to Downing Street in London to work with the Deputy Prime Minister, for one month, as special advisers on Young Peoples' Issues," said Mr. Flatley. "Isn't that marvellous ?" he asked, beaming happily.

"Let me guess, that would be Dan, Aneisha, Tom and Keri ?" asked Preston sarcastically.

"How on earth did you guess that ?" asked Mr. Flatley in amazement.

"Because it ALWAYS IS THEM !" howled Preston, banging his head off the desk top. "If there's any selecting been going on, it's them. It's always them !" he complained loudly.

The four agents glanced at one another guiltily. It was always them, but it was hardly their fault !

"Now Preston, I think you might be exaggerating slightly," protested Mr. Flatley.

"I would give my right arm for a month in Downing Street !" wailed Preston. "Just think what I could do !"

The rest of the class glanced at one another and eyes were rolled. "Yes, well, maybe it's the best thing for all concerned Preston ?" suggested Mr. Flatley quietly, with a relieved grimace. He too was thinking of all the things that Preston might do in Downing Street if he got an opportunity. Preston was very interested in saving the planet, which was a good thing. However, his plans for doing this always seemed to involve banning something that everyone else enjoyed.

"Oh, apparently, you're to be excused lessons from tomorrow and you take up your new responsibilities. Well, this is indeed an honour. Good luck to all of you !" said Mr. Flatley happily. "Now, French !" he said and everyone groaned.

At the end of the lesson, Preston approached the four agents as they quietly discussed their assignment. "Um, sorry Preston," said Aneisha. "We didn't ask for this you know," she added.

Preston shrugged his shoulders gloomily. "It's not your fault," he sighed. "If you do get a chance though, could you put in a word for whales ?" he asked pleadingly.

"Wales ? What do you want to go to Wales for ?" asked Dan in confusion.

"No ! Whales !" said Preston, holding his head. "Oh forget it !" he hissed, before storming out of the classroom.

"Oh, whales !" said Dan in realisation. "What ?" he demanded huffily, as the others all fell about laughing.


	2. Chapter 2

**MI High are recruited to a special project. They will work with the Deputy Prime Minister to find the mole in her organisation. They have friends and enemies, but will they be able to tell the difference ?**

 **OK, so it was late on Saturday night when I posted Chapter 1 and I didn't notice the Deputy Minister for Security had morphed into the Deputy PM. Sorry about that. Thankyou for nobody pointing it out to me :) Doh !**

 _Preston shrugged his shoulders gloomily. "It's not your fault," he sighed. "If you do get a chance though, could you put in a word for whales ?" he asked pleadingly._

" _Wales ? What do you want to go to Wales for ?" asked Dan in confusion._

" _No ! Whales !" said Preston, holding his head. "Oh forget it !" he hissed, before storming out of the classroom._

" _Oh, whales !" said Dan in realisation. "What ?" he demanded huffily, as the others all fell about laughing._

Later that evening, Tom sat on his bed, gloomily watching his mother check the contents of his hastily packed suitcase. He hadn't wanted to waste valuable gaming time packing clothes so he had hurriedly stuffed some items in and then returned to his console. "How many pairs of underpants did you pack ?" demanded Tom's Mum.

Tom sighed. "Plenty Mum ! Stop flapping. It'll be fine !" he said, trying to put her mind at rest.

"I know you Tom Tupper. I expect you stuffed the contents of some random drawer into the suitcase so you could go straight back to your computer game !" his mother accused. This was basically what Tom had done, so he decided to keep quiet. "You can't wear this in front of the Prime Minister !" exclaimed his mother, holding up a rather tatty Blade Quest T-shirt.

"It's the Deputy, and anyway, what's wrong with it ?" demanded Tom defensively.

"Well, just look at it !" huffed his mother. "And where's your good suit ?" she demanded, rifling through the contents of the bag one more time.

"It's too small !" complained Tom.

"Oh no ! Not again !" said his mother, flopping back on to the floor. "It's your only decent suit. You'll just have to squeeze into it," she said determinedly, getting up off the floor and invading Tom's wardrobe.

"I'll get it ! I'll get it !" said Tom, leaping up to intercept his mother. He kept his secret biscuit stash in the wardrobe. He didn't want his mother finding the biscuits or she would confiscate them. After a few more painful minutes, Tom's suitcase was packed to the satisfaction of his mother. Finally. She left the room and Tom flopped onto his bed. Well, that was the worst bit over !

The next day, Aneisha and Keri met outside the school, each pulling a large suitcase with a towing handle. They were both smartly dressed, Aneisha in a tight-fitting skirt and jacket, Keri in a soft trouser suit which hugged in all the right places. Keri caught Aneisha's raised eyebrows. "Too tarty ?" she asked.

Aneisha shrugged. "Not exactly tarty, but maybe a bit too pretty. You want to blend in. You look a bit like a fashion model," she said. "Don't worry about it," she added when she saw Keri's face fall. "I'm sure it will be fine."

Dan arrived, hauling his bag out of the boot of his mother's car. He joined the two girls, giving Keri a good look up and down as he dropped his bag. He was wearing a smart, navy blue suit, shirt and tie. Keri eyed him up appreciatively. He looked quite smart for a change, except there was something not quite right. She noticed his sleeves. They stopped about an inch short of his wrists. Then she glanced down at the trouser legs. They stopped an inch and a half above his ankles. Dan noticed where she was staring and looked annoyed. "I know !" he muttered. "Mum made me wear it."

"When did you last wear it ?" asked Aneisha.

"Wedding last year," said Dan, huffing in annoyance.

"Wow, you've grown !" said Keri, stifling a smile.

Tom arrived. He was dragging a large holdall, which he happily dropped beside the girls' cases. He was walking in a strangely stiff way. His arms stuck out slightly from the sides of his body.

"Are you alright Tom ?" asked Aneisha, sounding concerned. "It's just, you're walking a bit weirdly."

"Aw, this suit is really tight. My Mum made me wear it !" wailed Tom. "I can hardly breathe. How am I going to eat ?" he demanded.

Just then Frank drove up in a black MI9 van. He hopped out to help load the bags and stopped to look at Dan and Tom. "Hm, I think we're going to have to do something about you two !" he said thoughtfully.

Dan's shoulders slumped. It had taken over an hour to buy this suit with his mother the previous year. He hated buying clothes. "Do we have to ?" he pleaded.

Meanwhile, Tom had climbed into the van. They all heard the sound of material ripping. "We have to !" said Tom gloomily. "My pants have split."

Frank rubbed his forehead. Why was nothing ever simple ?

Frank drove the van to a small men's outfitters on the outskirts of town. Dan frowned when he saw the sign. It looked like a really old fashioned shop. "Right, out !" snapped Frank and they all piled out of the van. The stepped into a room lined with racks of men's clothes. Tom was trying to cover the split in his trousers with his hands which resulted in him dancing sideways through the door.

"Mr. London !" said an elderly man, emerging form the back of the shop. "Ah, these must be the young gentlemen you mentioned. He firstly eyed Dan from head to foot. "Hm. I think a lighter blue would suit you better," he commented before disappearing into the back of the shop. He returned with a suit jacket and trousers which he handed to Dan. "Changing rooms are here," said the man, pointing to a door at the side. Dan obediently went to change, feeling confused. How did the guy know what size he was ? Meanwhile Tom was getting the same inspection. "Hm. Something a little roomier and a lighter colour I think," said the man. He arrived back just as Dan came out of the changing room.

"It fits. It's really comfortable !" said Dan in wonderment.

Keri's eyes widened as she looked at Dan. He was right, the suit did fit. The colour also suited him perfectly. Keri had never seen Dan in properly smart clothes. He looked drop dead gorgeous ! Keri felt Aneisha lean in towards her. "Get your tongue back in Summers !" murmured Aneisha. Keri glared at her friend who was grinning innocently. A girl could look couldn't she ?

Now Tom had returned in his suit, which was a mid grey colour. The cut was loose and he looked relieved as well as slimmer. "This is so nice," said Tom. "Thanks so much Mr. er ?"

"Mr. Edgerton," said the older man. "I'm glad you like it," he said with a smile.

"It's brilliant !" said Dan. "Thanks !" He glanced at his watch. "And it only took 10 minutes ! How good is that ? Wow !"

"All the usual pockets ?" asked Frank.

"All the usual pockets," said Mr. Edgerton, nodding. "Do I bill the usual account Sir ?" he asked.

"Yes, thankyou," said Frank. "Right team ! We have a plane to catch."

As they walked to the van Dan felt around inside his jacket. "What extra pockets Frank ?" he asked.

"Mr. Edgerton makes suits for many of our agents," explained Frank. "They contain additional places of concealment."

"Spy suits ! Wicked !" exclaimed Tom, also feeling around inside his trouser pockets.

"Er, could you guys just stop groping yourselves until we're inside the van at least ?" asked Aneisha with a groan.

"I'm happy to help !" said Keri, raising her hand.

Tom took one look at the glint in Keri's eye, took his hands out of his pockets and leapt into the van with one bound. Dan looked undecided, but after a fraction of a second, followed Tom into the van.

"Well, at least Dan thought about it," said Keri to Aneisha, pursing her lips.

"This is Dan we're talking about," pointed out Aneisha. "He doesn't think for long."

"Oi ! I heard that !" complained Dan from inside the van.

They all started to make whale song noises. Dan groaned. "You're never going to let that go are you ?" Everyone shook their heads, giggling.


	3. Chapter 3

**MI High are recruited to a special project. They will work with the Deputy Prime Minister to find the mole in her organisation. They have friends and enemies, but will they be able to tell the difference ? Meeting and greeting.**

" _This is Dan we're talking about," pointed out Aneisha. "He doesn't think for long."_

" _Oi ! I heard that !" complained Dan from inside the van._

 _They all started to make whale song noises. Dan groaned. "You're never going to let that go are you ?" Everyone shook their heads, giggling._

Hours later, a subdued team were being ushered into a meeting room inside a government building somewhere in London. They had entered an anonymous wooden door at the side of a large building and then had been led through endless corridors and up and down numerous stairs. Keri had an excellent sense of direction, but she was now confused about where they might be.

"Are we there yet ?" Dan finally asked. He was usually the one happy to be in motion. He was not someone for sitting still, but after travelling non-stop since breakfast, even he had had enough.

A young man came in and smiled at them. "Why don't you take a seat," he suggested. "Mrs. Brash will be with you in a couple of minutes. She's just finishing off her previous meeting," he explained.

"Where are we ?" asked Aneisha, trying to get a glimpse out of the window, but she could only see a small courtyard garden, surrounded by the walls of buildings.

"You are inside Number 10 Downing Street," said the young man with a smile.

"But, I thought that was a house," said Tom, looking baffled.

The young man smiled. "Oh, Number 10 isn't just one house. It's a whole city block," he explained. "It interlinks with many other buildings in Whitehall. The door you see on television is the door where people are to be seen. When people are not to be seen, there are many other doors," he added.

The door opened and stocky, middle-aged woman with peroxide blonde hair walked in. "Are these the agents Milton ?" she asked.

"Yes Madam, Agents Summers, Jones, Tupper and Morgan, as you requested" said the young man quietly.

"It's an honour to meet you Mrs. Brash," said Aneisha politely.

"Oh, well, thankyou for coming," said Mrs. Brash. She looked closely at each of them in turn. Tom and Dan felt themselves blush slightly as she looked them over. Keri thought the woman was rather rude. "Do you know why you are here ?" Mrs. Brash asked finally.

"You have a mole ?" said Aneisha, trying to keep a professional tone, although she too had taken an instant dislike to the Deputy PM.

"Yes, apparently. I've been told we do. Some information got out which shouldn't have got out. Security breach and all that. Blasted nuisance but my security people want it investigated. You are to pose as interns. Ridiculous really. You're far too young, but apparently it's all the fashion now," said Mrs. Brash huffily. "One of you has to accompany me," said Mrs. Brash, looking round at them.

Tom, Keri and Dan looked straight at Aneisha. Aneisha looked slightly taken aback and then put on a fixed smile. "That'll be me then !" she said cheerily.

"Who knows about us ?" asked Dan.

Mrs. Brash's gaze instantly swung back to Dan. He felt like she was looking inside his brain and had to stop himself shrinking back in his chair. "Milton," said Mrs. Brash, nodding towards the young man, "and the Security Chief, Stark. Nobody else knows, or at least, nobody else should know. Milton will give you your instructions." She glanced at her watch. "Have I got a four thirty Milton ?" she asked.

"Yes, I believe so Mrs. Brash," said Milton calmly. "Education," he added.

"Right, I need to go. I'll let you get on with it then," she said dismissively.

Aneisha jumped to her feet. "Perhaps I'd better come with you then ?" she suggested.

"Oh ! Yes, I suppose you might as well then," the Deputy PM reluctantly agreed. "Come on !" she said. Aneisha swiftly followed her out of the room.

When the door had closed behind Mrs. Brash, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and sank back in their chairs. "Erm, can you give us some instructions please, Mr. Milton ?" asked Keri.

Mr. Milton smiled at her and brought a laptop to the table. "I believe you all have some technology ?" he asked.

Keri pulled her Spy Pod out of her handbag. Dan and Tom produced theirs from somewhere inside their suits. Wow, those secret pockets were good, Keri thought to herself. The Spy Pods were pretty bulky and she hadn't noticed anything showing. She briefly considered where the boys might have been concealing their Spy Pods and had to quickly sweep it out of her mind so she could concentrate. She seemed to be getting a one track mind lately ! Keep you mind on the job Summers !

Mr. Milton downloaded a set of files to each of their Spy Pods. He seemed to have all the security clearances already sorted out. "This includes a schematic of all the buildings within the Whitehall complex, including Number 10," he explained. "I'm sure I don't need to tell you that all of this information is highly sensitive and you must take care of it. When you finish your assignment, all of this information will be deleted," explained Mr. Milton.

"We understand. We've done this sort of thing before," said Tom.

"Well, you wouldn't be here otherwise !" said Mr. Milton with a smile. "Mr. Stark was insistent on using a team such as yours. I was not aware that such teams existed," he explained. "You have security clearance to access most of the internal systems."

"What do you do here Mr. Milton ?" asked Keri.

"I am a Liaison Officer," said Mr. Milton. They looked at him blankly. "Yes, it doesn't mean anything does it ?" he said smiling. "I am an assistant to the Ministers with responsibility for their security and the security of the information they access. I am a link between Number 10 and the security services," he explained.

"What about Mr. Stark ?" asked Dan, hoping he had got the name right.

"Mr. Stark has deputised this assignment to me," explained Mr. Milton, snapping his laptop shut. "I shall provide you with any assistance you require. I have given you my contact details. I suggest you familiarise yourself with the material I have given you. Tomorrow you should be in a position to start work," he said before standing.

"Thankyou very much Mr. Milton," said Tom, offering his hand. Mr. Milton shook hands with them all.

"I'll introduce you to the Secretaries," he said. "They hold all the power around here. You'd better meet them," he said, a quick grin crossing his face and then disappearing behind the impassive mask again. They all instantly warmed to Mr. Milton. That was more than could be said for their first impression of Mrs. Brash.

They were taken on a quick tour of offices. Mr. Milton introduced them to different men and women around the building, telling them that the team were going to be working with Mrs. Brash on the issue of Young People. Most of the staff were friendly and kind, but one or two were less approachable. Then they were left in a room on their own and started to read through the files they had been given. After half an hour, Aneisha joined them. She looked relieved to be back. "What was she like ?" asked Keri.

"Much the same as when we met her. I think she can remember my name now, but that's about as far as we got," said Aneisha, dropping into a chair. "That woman is the rudest person I have ever met ! Am I going to have to be the one who spends time with her ?" she asked.

"Well, we can take turns," suggested Keri, looking at Tom and Dan.

Dan grimaced. "I'm not great at that kind of thing, but I'll try if it helps," he offered.

"Well, if you get fed up, at least you could punch her in the face," suggested Tom.

"Tom !" protested Aneisha.

"Joking !" said Tom, raising his hands in surrender.

Aneisha huffed and laid back in her chair. "I felt like it more than once today," she muttered.

They all sat in silence for a minute. "There could be hundreds of people in this building," said Dan. "How the hell are we going to find a mole ?"

Tom shrugged. "Start digging up molehills I guess !" he said.


	4. Chapter 4

**MI High are recruited to a special project. They will work with the Deputy Prime Minister to find the mole in her organisation. They have friends and enemies, but will they be able to tell the difference ? Start digging.**

 _They all sat in silence for a minute. "There could be hundreds of people in this building," said Dan. "How the hell are we going to find a mole ?"_

 _Tom shrugged. "Start digging up molehills I guess !" he said._

"I don't know where to start !" Dan admitted reluctantly.

"Well, I do," said Keri. Dan looked startled. "You don't have to look quite so shocked Morgan. I'm not a complete air-head you know !" she complained.

"No, I never said you were," muttered Dan. "So, where do we start ?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"Right, well, on two occasions the leaks were about things that were said during meetings held by Mrs. Brash," said Keri. "We need to find out who attended those meetings and where they were held. Then we can check up on the locations and the people," she said triumphantly.

Dan, Tom and Keri grinned at her. "Nice one Sherlock !" said Dan.

"Also, there are some missing files," said Tom. "I could get to work to find out how those got out," he said.

"These papers don't say where the information ended up," pointed out Dan. "That might help mightn't it ?" he asked cautiously.

"Yes, good point. I mean, if it went to KORPS that's kind of different from going to a newspaper," said Aneisha, nodding. "Why was this information wanted in the first place ?"

"What about Mrs. Brash ?" asked Tom.

"She's awful," said Aneisha, sliding down in her chair and staring at the ceiling.

"Well, we guessed that much. Do you want me to take a turn with her tomorrow ?" asked Dan sympathetically.

"Nah ! You'd just end up punching her in the face," said Aneisha listlessly.

"Why does everyone think I only want to punch people in the face ?" demanded Dan in frustration.

"Because that's when you're happiest," said Tom. "Running, and punching people in the face," he explained.

Dan frowned. He didn't get it. He didn't spend all his time fighting. Running he did like. Punching people in the face, less so. "I'm not going to punch the Deputy PM in the face !" he exclaimed.

Aneisha appeared not to have heard him. "Wait till the end of the week, and I might ask you to," she groaned. "My ears are still ringing from that woman's voice. She's like an alarm klaxon going off all the time. She ignores what other people say. She talks over the top of other people," Aneisha trailed off. "Maybe I could get some ear-plugs. I could pretend they're for comms," she said dreamily.

"I could get you some," suggested Tom. "We need to be able to communicate anyway," he added helpfully.

The others all held up their pencil communicators and mobile phones. "Not really necessary Tom," said Keri. "It's not like we need our hands free for fighting is it ?" she pointed out.

"Okay, so plan of action for tomorrow is as follows: I find out how the files were taken, Aneisha follows Mrs. Brash again, and Dan and Keri follow up on the meeting leaks. Does that sound like a plan to you ?" asked Tom. They all nodded. Dan looked a lot happier now he knew what he was going to do.

The door opened and Mr. Milton came in. They explained what they wanted to do the next day and he promised to arrange for what they needed. "Good work," he said with a smile.

The next day, the team were driven from their accommodation to the back door for Number 10. Mr. Milton met them and took Tom to a computer room. He left Aneisha at Mrs. Brash's office and took Dan and Keri to one of the secretary's they had met the previous day. "I'm afraid I have to attend to some meetings with Mr. Stark," he explained. "I'll leave you to get on with it," he said, before leaving.

"Mr. Milton says you need details about some meetings," said the secretary.

Dan and Keri glanced at one another. They needed to avoid letting on about what exactly they were there for. "Yes please," said Keri. "We need to know about the people who attended and where the meetings were held," she explained. "We're trying to find out how younger peoples' opinions get included in policy decisions," she quickly made up. Dan handed the secretary a list of dates and meeting titles. She started running through her computer and printing off documents for them. The two agents sat down and started reading.

Tom sat at his computer desk, running through the security features of the building's computer networks and checking how the files had been removed. There appeared to be no breach of the firewalls or the password checks. This looked like an inside job. At least the files had been obtained by an insider. Perhaps the files could have been stolen off a genuine employee. When he tried to trace the user who had taken the files, he was surprised to find they were listed as an Administrator. This was someone who managed the computer systems, or a senior manager. That was weird. Maybe someone had stolen the Administrator's password. That was serious. Tom called Mr. Milon and got his voicemail. "Hello Mr. Milton, it's Tom Tupper here, from erm, the Young People Team," he said, stumbling over the unfamiliar words. "The files were taken using an Administrator password. Can you please make sure that the Administrator password gets changed as soon as possible," he asked. "Thanks, Bye," he added, closing the call. He sat back and drummed his fingers on the table. Maybe he could work out which computer had been used to access the files. That might help. Of course, he couldn't do that within the access permissions he had been given. Tom glanced around him. Nobody was paying any attention. He smiled to himself and stretched out his fingers. Playtime !

Aneisha followed Mrs. Brash all day from meeting to meeting. The woman was the rudest person on earth. She didn't seem to listen to what people were saying. Sometimes it took people ages to get their point across. To be fair, she did seem to take into account what they had said, when she finally listened to them. She did seem to be pretty clever as well, Aneisha had to admit to herself. Something wasn't quite right, and she couldn't put her finger on what it was.

Dan and Keri put together a list of all the people who attended the meetings which were leaked. Several people were at all the meetings. Two of the meetings took place in Mrs. Brash's office and one took place in a meeting room. "It all happened inside here somewhere," Dan finally commented. "It doesn't seem to happen when she goes out of the building," he added.

Keri nodded. "Yes, that's odd. You would think it would be easier to spy on her when she was outside. It must be really hard to get in here if you don't work here," she said thoughtfully. She looked up at Dan as she realised something. "It's someone who doesn't leave here," said Keri.

"We can't be certain about that," said Dan. "It could be that those rooms are bugged. But, I think you're right. Why go to all the trouble of spying inside here, planting bugs when you could easily be caught, and when it would be so much easier outside ? You definitely get the Sherlock costume at the next disco," he said with a grin.

"Does that mean you get to be Little Red Riding Hood outfit ?" asked Keri cheekily.

"I don't really care, just so long as Frank doesn't do his Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde thing again," Dan said, shuddering at the memory.

"Yeah," agreed Keri quietly. "That was pretty grim wasn't it ?"

Dan suddenly felt that he was being watched. The secretary had left the room. He looked around to the door and just glimpsed someone moving away. "Did you see that ?" he asked Keri, jumping up from his chair.

"See what ?" asked Keri, confused.

Dan stood at the door, looking up and down the corridor. There was nobody in sight, until a man rounded the corner, walking towards him. "I thought someone was listening," muttered Dan.

"Maybe they were just walking past," offered Keri.

"Well, they were moving pretty fast whoever they were," said Dan. "They disappeared before I got to the door."

"Quick walker ?" suggested Keri.

Dan turned, looking annoyed. "They were listening. I know it !" he said.

"Okay ! I believe you !" said Keri, raising her hands in surrender. "Let's check on our list of people. Then we can look at the rooms."

Dan nodded. "Alright. Keep your eyes open though," he added warily. "Something's not right."

"Something usually isn't when we're around," said Keri. "I think it's part of the job description."


	5. Chapter 5

**MI High are recruited to a special project. They will work with the Deputy Prime Minister to find the mole in her organisation. They have friends and enemies, but will they be able to tell the difference ? Sorry for the delays in updates. I've got the ideas for the story, but it's difficult to get them in the right order because I've made it miles too complicated.**

 **Too close for comfort.**

 _Dan nodded. "Alright. Keep your eyes open though," he added warily. "Something's not right."_

" _Something usually isn't when we're around," said Keri. "I think it's part of the job description."_

Tom's phone buzzed. Still typing with his right hand, he held the phone to his ear with his left hand. "Hi Dan. What's up ?" he asked, most of his attention still on his computer search.

"Tom, me and Keri are going to check out some rooms for bugs and stuff. Can we use our Spy Pods for that ?" asked Dan.

"Yeah. Use the 'Eavesdrop Ripper' application," said Tom.

"Thanks. How are you getting on ?" asked Dan.

"Okay. I found out that the files were accessed with an Administrator password," explained Tom. "That's a high level of security access. I'm trying to track down what computer was used," he said.

"That's really great Tom. Let us know if you find anything. We'll come with you. It might be dangerous to go on your own," said Dan.

This instantly stopped Tom's typing. "What do you mean ?" he asked, disconcerted.

"Well, someone's prepared to leak state secrets aren't they. They might be willing to do other things to prevent themselves being caught mightn't they ?" asked Dan.

"I hadn't thought about that," admitted Tom. "Okay, I'll let you know if I find anything," he said.

"That's cool Tom. We'll let you know if we find anything. See you later," said Dan, closing the call.

Tom's phone instantly rang again. It was Mr. Milton. "Tom ! Glad I caught you. Got your message," said Mr. Milton. "Thanks for the warning about the Admin password. I've got one of my guys to change it," he said.

"Oh, yeah, that's cool," said Tom a little vaguely. He already knew what the new password was. He'd hacked into the system and watched the password change. Maybe that wasn't something to tell Mr. Milton just yet. "I've been trying to track the computer which was used to access the files," he explained hurriedly.

"That's great Tom, but our guy who changed the password told me he had an idea where it had been done. He couldn't quite believe it he said. Why don't I come and get you and we can go and meet him," said Mr. Milton. "It'll save you a bit of time," he added. Tom agreed and just had time to close down all of the illicit and illegal accesses and hacks into the secure government systems he was running before the security man came to collect him.

"Oh, Hi !" he gushed, as he hurriedly closed down the last access, trying to hide his screen from the older man's view. Mr. Milton smiled slightly. Tom wondered how much Frank had told these people here about his abilities. Swallowing his guilt he grabbed his laptop and followed Mr. Milton through the seemingly endless corridors of the building complex.

"Hmph ! That's odd. He said he'd meet us here," said Mr. Milton, opening a door to an, apparently, empty room lined with partitioned desks, each with a desktop computer and telephone. "This is our hot-desk room," he explained to Tom. "It's not like Mike to be late," he said, walking around the room, searching each partitioned cubicle.

Tom followed him into the room, walking round in the opposite direction. He stopped in his tracks. "Uh, Mr. Milton ?" he said quietly.

The other man turned to see Tom staring at the floor. "What is it ?" he asked, walking around the end of the row of desks separating them. "Oh," he said heavily. He knelt down and felt for a pulse on the neck of the man lying on the floor. "Oh my God," he whispered. "Mike, what happened ?" he asked, obviously shocked and upset. A middle-aged man lay on the floor, his eyes glassy and staring, unseeing into the distance. His mouth was open, his knees were bent and his hands were lying in front of him, fingers flexed as if they had just finished typing.

"Tom, contact your team and check that they're alright," ordered Mr. Milton. Tom snapped out of his shocked stupor and did as he was told.

A couple of hours later Tom sat waiting in a plush office within the Number 10 complex. Large fish tanks lined one of the walls and a large wooden desk sat at the end of the room. This was the office of Security Chief Stark. The door opened and Mr. Milton came in, followed by Dan, Aneisha and Keri. "Tom ! You Okay ?" asked Dan.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What happened ? Do you know ?" asked Tom. He was trying to hide how shaken he was. He couldn't help wondering whether Mike's fate could have been his.

"I'm afraid my colleague Mike Taylor is dead," said Mr. Milton sadly.

There was an gasp from each of the young agents. "I'm really sorry Mr. Milton," said Aneisha. "That's terrible !"

"How did he die ?" asked Dan.

"Yes, I'd like to know that !" snapped a sharp voice from the door. An irritable looking man walked in. He examined each of the agents swiftly as he walked up to the desk and sat down behind it.

"Er, Security Chief Stark," said Mr. Milton by way of introduction. The team nodded to the man, who ignored them, continuing to stare at Mr. Milton.

"Well, the pathologist had a hunch, based on the unusual position of the victim's body," explained Mr. Milton. "Early toxicology backs up his assumption, which was that Mike Taylor was poisoned."

"What ? How ?" asked Tom in confusion. There hadn't been any food or drink in the room with the dead man.

"He absorbed it through his skin. The keyboard was coated in the stuff," explained Mr. Milton.

"What was it ? The poison ?" asked Aneisha.

"It's a rare poison from the gland of a Japanese puffer fish," explained Mr. Milton. "It's the poison which is believed to have been behind the original Zombie myths. It causes paralysis and coma at lower dosages, but victims can revive."

"Oh, so Mr. Taylor might get better ?" asked Keri.

"No, unfortunately each of the keys on the keyboard held a lethal dose and he had it on all ten fingers," said Mr. Milton sadly.

There was a heavy silence in the room for a moment. "What's the name of that fish ?" asked Mr. Stark quietly.

"Name ? Oh, it's erm," said Mr. Milton, fumbling with a small notebook. "He did tell me, just a second," he continued. "Yes, here it is, Takifugu," said Mr. Milton triumphantly. "He didn't know the subspecies," he added. "The Japanese eat it as a delicacy apparently. With the poisonous bits removed, obviously," he added.

"Isn't that dangerous ?" asked Keri.

"Oh, yes. Some people die every year apparently," said Mr. Milton. "I guess it's a thrill of sorts," he added. "Is something wrong Sir ?" he asked his superior.

Mr. Stark was rummaging in his draw. He mumbled something as he pulled out a notebook and started thumbing it's pages. "Ha ! Thought so," he said, leaping up from his desk and marching across to the fish tanks. "Hm. One, two. Right, I think I know where they got the poison from. Damn cheek !" he snapped. "Look !" he said, stabbing a finger at a page of the notebook.

"Takifugu, Puffer Fish," murmured Mr. Milton, looking at the page. "How many do you have ?" he asked.

"Two," said Mr. Stark. "I should have three !" he added. "Someone has stolen one of my fish and used it to kill Mike Taylor," he snarled. "And they're going to pay for it !" he added. He glared at the four teens. "It had better not have anything to do with you lot !" he snarled.

The four agents froze in shock. "What ? Why would it have anything to do with us ?" asked Dan, getting angry. "We only just got here and you asked us to come !" he added, shutting his mouth firmly before he said anything he would regret. He could feel the anger bubbling up inside him.

"These agents haven't been inside your office before Mr. Stark," pointed out Mr. Milton, frowning. "They couldn't possibly know about the fish, could they ?" he asked reasonably.

"Oh ! No, I suppose not," agreed Mr. Stark, backing down with rather poor grace. "Alright then, I want you all to find out who did this and bring them to justice !" he snapped. "I expect results !"


	6. Chapter 6

**MI High are recruited to a special project. They will work with the Deputy Prime Minister to find the mole in her organisation. They have friends and enemies, but will they be able to tell the difference ? Plan of action.**

" _These agents haven't been inside your office before Mr. Stark," pointed out Mr. Milton, frowning. "They couldn't possibly know about the fish, could they ?" he asked reasonably._

" _Oh ! No, I suppose not," agreed Mr. Stark, with rather poor grace. "Alright then, I want you all to find out who did this and bring them to justice !" he snapped. "I expect results !"_

The four agents were returned to their accommodation for the night. Tom, Keri and Aneisha chatted intermittently about the day's events. A furious Dan was sitting in silence with his arms folded. "Dan, what are you doing ?" asked Keri, looking puzzled.

"I'm still counting," muttered Dan in a low growl.

"So where are you up to ?" asked Aneisha.

"One hundred and fifty-three," snapped Dan.

"Wow ! That's pissed off," said Tom, looking impressed. "How high do you think you're going to have to go before you calm down ?" he asked.

"It's not happening yet," muttered Dan.

The black van they were riding in came to a stop. "Okay, well we're back, so you could go and hit something instead," suggested Aneisha with a sigh. They all walked into their safe house, dropping off their equipment in the kitchen area. Dan walked straight through to a room at the back and as it's door swung shut they heard the unmistakable sound of a punchbag being smacked repeatedly and hard. The door then softly shut, masking all sounds from behind and the three looked at one another. "I've never seen him like that before," whispered Aneisha. "I hope he calms down before he hurts himself."

"Do you think I should go and talk to him ?" asked Keri in concern.

"No !", "God No !" said Tom and Aneisha at the same time. They looked at one another and had a fit of giggles. "Let him get it out of his system. The last time he was anything like this was when Zoe was taken by the Scientist General. He was shouting at all of us," said Tom. "Just stay out of his way for a bit. It's for the best, believe me !" he added.

Tom started to help Aneisha prepare a meal while Keri tidied up some of the mess they had left that morning in their rush to leave the house. They had just laid the table when Dan appeared, looking tired but relatively calm. "Are you feeling better now ?" asked Aneisha.

"Yeah," said Dan, looking at the tidy living area and smelling the cooking food. "Sorry guys. I guess I let you do all the work," he muttered, looking at his feet.

Keri glanced at his red, raw knuckles and winced. "Why don't you get changed and then run your hands under the cold tap," she suggested kindly. "I think you're going to need them tomorrow, if it's only for punching Stark in the face," she said with a cheeky grin.

Dan managed a half smile. "Yeah, there's always that," he murmured.

They sat down to eat together in a more relaxed mood. Dan loaded the dishwasher and tidied up to make up for his earlier absence. They all sat down in the living area and without anyone saying anything, they each grabbed their spy equipment from the day. "Okay Aneisha, how about you run through your day," suggested Dan.

"Right, well, I followed Mrs. Brash around all day again. Most of her meetings have been pretty public today, so I don't suppose there was anything that was worth leaking to be honest. I'm starting to see a pattern in what's going on and I'm thinking of holding a small experiment tomorrow," said Aneisha thoughtfully.

"What's that all about ?" asked Dan curiously.

"Oh, I'm not going to say anything until I've confirmed my suspicions," said Aneisha. "Don't worry. It's not actually relevant to the mission," she assured them.

"Did you use these rooms today ?" asked Keri, showing Aneisha her Spy Pod.

"Nope. She hasn't been in either of those since we arrived," said Aneisha. "Are they the places where the leaks occurred ?" she asked. Keri nodded. Aneisha checked her itinerary. "We're going to Room 6.16 tomorrow," she told them.

"Well, you should be safe," said Dan. "Keri and I scanned the room thoroughly for bugging devices and we didn't find any," he told the others. "Neither of the suspect rooms had any devices of any kind. We went over them with a fine toothed comb," he said, sighing.

"We checked and the rooms can only be accessed with the passcard of the person who booked the room," explained Keri. "Nobody else can get in, apart from the security team and the cleaner," she added as an after-thought.

"Great, so the only person with access to all the rooms has the lowest security clearance in the building !" said Tom sarcastically.

"Actually, we did think of that," said Dan, holding up his finger. "The cleaning staff are the most heavily vetted people in the building. They are permanent employees and go through a complex security screening process when they come in and out of the building. It's more likely to be Mr. Stark himself if you ask me," he said grumpily. "Or one of the fish !"

"Yeah, well, I don't think one of the fish jumped out of its tank and rubbed its bum over the computer keyboard !" said Keri.

"It's bum ? Is that er ?" wondered Dan.

"It's in the liver !" reported Tom typing away at Google, "Mostly anyway," he muttered.

"Okay, so I don't think the fish jumped out of its tank and rubbed its liver over the computer keyboard," said Keri. "Eew ! That sounds gross !" she added. "I wish I hadn't said that now !"

"That makes four of us," muttered Dan.

"Okay team ! Back on topic if possible," said Aneisha firmly. "What have we got exactly ?"

Keri ticked off her fingers. "No bugs in the leaky rooms. Someone with Admin access to the computers accessed the leaked files. Someone poisoned the guy who thought he knew who did it with fish poison. The fish was taken from Stark's office. Stark's a complete bastard," she finished triumphantly.

"Good list," agreed Tom nodding. "So we can check the CCTV footage outside Stark's office, check who accessed his office recently, ask him when he last counted his fish, monitor Mrs. Brash's meeting in Room 6.16 tomorrow, and I can't think of anything else," he said.

"We could trace Mike Taylor's movements yesterday," suggested Aneisha.

"Good one Neish," agreed Tom. They divided up the tasks between them and then tossed their equipment back on to the table. Tom flexed his fingers. "So, Bladequest time !" he said gleefully.

The others rolled their eyes. "Film ?" asked Dan.

"Film," agreed the girls.

Half an hour later, Tom glanced up from his laptop screen to see Dan sitting in the middle of the sofa with a girl cuddled up against him on either side, happily watching the film. Tom frowned. He'd gone wrong somewhere here. How come he wasn't sitting on the sofa cuddled up to Aneisha ? Damn, he was an idiot ! "Erm, can you guys fit one more in ?" he asked, quickly shutting down his game. The others budged up enough for Tom to squeeze in beside Aneisha. He wondered what they were watching. Meh ! Who cares ! He closed his eyes and snuggled up to Aneisha. This was heaven.


	7. Chapter 7

**MI High are recruited to a special project. They will work with the Deputy Prime Minister to find the mole in her organisation. They have friends and enemies, but will they be able to tell the difference ? Listening and bug hunting.**

 _Half an hour later, Tom glanced up from his laptop screen to see Dan sitting in the middle of the sofa with a girl cuddled up against him on either side, happily watching the film. Tom frowned. He'd gone wrong somewhere here. How come he wasn't sitting on the sofa cuddled up to Aneisha ? Damn, he was an idiot ! "Erm, can you guys fit one more in ?" he asked, quickly shutting down his game. The others budged up enough for Tom to squeeze in beside Aneisha. He wondered what they were watching. Meh ! Who cares ! He closed his eyes and snuggled up to Aneisha. This was heaven._

Aneisha followed Mrs. Brash into Room 6.16. This was supposed to be an internal briefing of the Deputy PM by other government departments. Hopefully, it wouldn't be as boring as the previous meeting where they were talking about how often double yellow lines had to be repainted. Or, maybe it was how often people were allowed to stop on double yellow lines before they got a fine. She wasn't sure, and if she was honest, she didn't really care. Nobody was going to die, so it wasn't really her problem. Also, it was time for her experiment. Aneisha checked around the room. She nodded to Dan and Keri who were sitting at the back of the room, holding notebooks and pens in front of their Spy Pods. Aneisha raised her eyebrows at her fellow agents. Dan shook his head and mouthed 'clear' to her.

Everyone took their seats and the briefing started. Once it was under way Aneisha reached into her pocket and activated her phone's alarm feature. It bipped softly. Many people in the room who were sitting close to her started to look around them curiously, trying to work out where the noise was coming from. Aneisha carefully turned up the volume slightly. More people started to look around them. Mrs. Brash looked up in irritation. "What's the matter with you. Concentrate people please. I have another meeting at 11am. I don't want to be late because you are not doing your jobs !" she snapped.

Aneisha turned up the volume once again. Now, everyone in the room was trying to find the source of the annoying noise. That was, everyone except Mrs. Brash. She seemed to be oblivious. "Can you hear that ?" asked a man across the room. "It's like some sort of distant siren," he said, looking all around him.

"What did you say ?" asked Mrs. Brash loudly. "What are you muttering about ?" she demanded.

"Can't you hear it ?" asked someone.

"Hear what ? I can't hear anything !" snapped Mrs. Brash. She looked flustered. "Can we please get on !" she demanded.

Aneisha turned off her alarm. Her experiment had been successful. Now she understood the problem. It wasn't necessarily going to be an easy one to solve though. Once the irritating noise had stopped, everyone got back to the briefing which proceeded without incident until the last person had finished speaking and everyone was gathering their papers.

The door swung open and Mr. Stark stormed in. "What is the meaning of this ?" he demanded. He held up a laptop which showed text from a website. The text was about the content of the earlier part of the meeting. More text was appearing all the time, listing the topics of discussion. Dan and Keri got to their feet, confusion clear on their faces. "This is an outrage ! You two were supposed to have swept this room for bugs !" he yelled at Dan and Keri.

"We did ! There weren't any," said Dan.

"Oh ?" said Stark snarkily. He ran his hand around the underside of the meeting table and pulled out a cylindrical metal object. "And what do you call this ?" he demanded smugly.

"Wait, that wasn't there !" protested Dan.

"Oh really ! And we're supposed to believe you're capable of doing this job are we ?" demanded Mr. Stark.

"Mr. Stark, why are you interrogating the Interns ?" asked one of the government people, looking puzzled. "You haven't got them working on security now have you ?" she asked, laughing.

"What ? Ah, no, of course not," snapped Mr. Stark, looking less confident for a moment. This had given Dan enough time to run his Spy Pod over the device in Stark's hand. It alerted the bug detection application on the Spy Pod. Dan frowned. That should have shown up earlier. He glanced at Keri who shrugged. "Well, I'll speak to you later," said Stark, before lurching clumsily out of the door again.

"Peculiar man !" muttered Mrs. Brash. "Always has been. He asked for you after all !" she said to Aneisha quietly. "Come on. We've got work to do. Leave your colleagues to sort this out," she instructed calmly.

The room emptied and Dan looked at Keri. "It wasn't here before was it ? I'm not going mad am I ?" he asked quietly.

"Seems unlikely. Unless our detector software suddenly stopped working and then started working again. I mean, that's technically possible isn't it, but wow, I don't think it's likely to happen, I mean, wowser, that would be a really crummy bit of software and Tom doesn't usually send us out with stuff that doesn't work, …." rambled Keri.

"Was that a 'no' ?" asked Dan, holding up his hand to stem the tide.

"Er, yeah. I mean, it was a 'no'," said Keri, looking anxious.

"I'm calling Tom," said Dan, pulling out his phone. "Hey Tom, you won't believe what just happened here," he said. "We scanned for bugs and there weren't any. Then Stark storms in waving some leak happening in almost real time and pulls a bug out from under the table. How is that even possible ?" he demanded, sounding frustrated.

There was a pause on the phone. Then Tom's voice said, "It's not possible. It's only possible if Stark put it there himself."

"Why would he do that ? He brought us here didn't he ?" said Keri, into Dan's phone.

"I don't know. I've narrowed down the likely suspects for accessing those leaked files to three people," said Tom tensely. "Why don't we meet up ?" he suggested.

Meanwhile, Aneisha walked with Mrs. Brash through the corridors to her next meeting. "Mrs. Brash," said Aneisha, clearly. "How long have you been having hearing problems ?" she asked.

Mrs. Brash stopped dead in her tracks. "What do you mean ?" she asked sharply.

"I did a test during the last meeting. When people were complaining about the mysterious noise, it was me. I set up my phone to make the noise to see if you could hear it," she explained, as gently as she could.

"I didn't hear anything !" said Mrs. Brash, less confidently.

"I know. I think you might need to get some help with your hearing," said Aneisha quietly. "It won't be difficult. I'm sure you could get it arranged really quickly. Then you will know if you need to do anything about it," she added.

Mrs. Brash stood in the corridor on her own with Aneisha. She opened her mouth and closed it again. "My father went deaf very young," she said finally. She sighed. "I think I have been hiding from the truth for some time," she said, looking at the floor.

"I think it's affecting your work Mrs. Brash. Please get it tested," pleaded Aneisha. "I bet they've got much better ear pieces now. Ours are practically invisible when we're on a mission. Why don't you find out ?" she asked.

Mrs. Brash looked Aneisha in the eye. "You're right. I am missing things. Alright, I'm going to make some enquiries this evening and get the ball rolling. Now, how about we get along to, let me see," she said, checking her phone. "Hm, Control of Livestock Movement," she said, without enthusiasm. "Right, let's go move some cows Aneisha. Come along !" she said briskly, marching off down the corridor. Aneisha followed with a big smile on her face. Mrs. Brash was turning out to be Okay after all.


	8. Chapter 8

**MI High are recruited to a special project. They will work with the Deputy Prime Minister to find the mole in her organisation. They have friends and enemies, but will they be able to tell the difference ? Thinking things through.**

 _Mrs. Brash looked Aneisha in the eye. "You're right. I am missing things. Alright, I'm going to make some enquiries this evening and get the ball rolling. Now, how about we get along to, let me see," she said, checking her phone. "Hm, Control of Livestock Movement," she said, without enthusiasm. "Right, let's go move some cows Aneisha. Come along !" she said briskly, marching off down the corridor. Aneisha followed with a big smile on her face. Mrs. Brash was turning out to be Okay after all._

Dan stood looking at Keri. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking ?" he asked her.

"You mean, how do I get a pair of heels in zebra print to match my new outfit ?" asked Keri brightly.

"No," said Dan, patiently.

Keri grinned. "Only kidding !" Then she got serious. "How come Stark managed to produce a bug out of nowhere after we'd scanned the room ? He had to have brought it with him."

"Yep, that's one of them," agreed Dan.

Keri looked puzzled. "What's the other one then ?" she asked.

"Where was that leak being produced from ?" asked Dan.

"Oh yeah, that," agreed Keri. She looked around the room. "Well, it wasn't here when we started," she said.

"So it had to have come into the room after we started," pointed out Dan.

"And it couldn't have been Stark, because he only arrived near the end," said Keri, prodding Dan in the chest with her finger.

"So, somebody else had a bug on them," said Dan frowning. The two agents looked at one another. "If Stark deliberately planted that bug, then there has to be someone else," he said. "There have to be two moles."

"Not if the person with the bug doesn't know they are bugged," pointed out Keri, poking Dan in the chest with her finger again.

"That's true," agreed Dan, "but you don't have to poke me at the end of each sentence," he added.

"Um, sorry. Didn't realise I was doing it," Keri apologised, folding her hands together behind her back.

"Let's go and see Tom. He might be able to find out where that leak feed was coming from. At least we could work out who has been bugged," suggested Dan.

They found Tom, walking through the corridors looking for them. "Hey Tom ! I think there's something else you can check on," said Dan.

"Yeah, yeah, one thing at a time !" panted Tom. "Let's go to the hot desk room," he suggested.

"Isn't that where that guy …." Keri tailed off, wincing.

"Yeah, that's the place," agreed Tom, oblivious to Keri's discomfort. She looked at Dan who shrugged and half smiled. They followed Tom to the hot desk room. Once again it was empty, so they sat down in a corner and put their heads together.

After Dan had explained his and Keri's reasoning, he said, "So we need to trace who has been bugged, and work out if they're in on it or not."

Tom frowned. "Damn, I was sure it was just Stark. It's either him or Milton or this guy called Williams. They all have the necessary access rights on the system," he explained.

"It could just be Stark if the bugged person doesn't know about it," pointed out Keri.

"Hm ! Well, we need to track down the person who has been bugged to make sure they don't carry on transmitting leaks," said Tom. "I need Stark to give me the details of where he picked up the leak from," he said. None of them looked too happy at the prospect of asking Stark for information.

Dan's phone rang. "Morgan ! Stark ! My office ! Five minutes !" barked Stark's voice over the phone, before the connection cut.

Dan looked up to the other two. "We heard," said Tom. "Come on. Let's see what we can get out of him," he sighed.

The three agents found four chairs in front of Mr. Stark's desk. "Where's the other one ?" demanded Stark.

"Agent Jones is still accompanying Mrs. Brash of course," said Keri, as calmly as she could. She could sense Dan bristling with annoyance beside her. If he sat there counting to a hundred again, they weren't going to get anything done.

"Well, are you going to give me a report on your progress or not ?" demanded Stark, putting the emphasis on the word 'progress' sarcastically. Keri looked at the man sharply. He looked like he was gloating.

"Yes," said Dan. "Our scanners did not show the bug in the room when we swept it before the meeting, but our scanners were able to successfully detect the bug," he said.

"What ? How do you know that ?" sneered Stark.

"I scanned it while you were holding it out," explained Dan, feeling intense satisfaction as he watched Stark visibly deflate slightly. "It lit up on the screen. We would definitely have found it if it had been in the room before the meeting. Therefore we believe that it was brought into the room by somebody," he said, looking meaningfully at Stark. Dan could have sworn he saw a glint of alarm flicker across Stark's eyes.

"Yes, and we need to trace the source of the leak you had on your tablet," said Tom. "Can you give me the address you were looking at ? I can try to track it down and hopefully work out its source," he explained.

"Well, yes, of course," stammered Stark. He seemed to be caught off guard and had abruptly stopped sniping at them. "I'll give it to you now," he said, pulling out his tablet and passing some data across to Tom. "And, your search for the potential mole ?" he asked casually.

"Oh, yeah, almost there," said Tom, running the new data through his laptop. "I've narrowed the possibles down to yourself, Mr. Milton and a guy called Williams," he said absent mindedly.

Stark froze for a split second, but Tom didn't notice because he was staring at his screen. Dan and Keri noticed and shared a quick glance. "Williams !" snapped Stark, looking relieved.

"Hm ?" Tom looked up. "What ?" he asked vaguely.

"Milton is quite new, but Williams has worked here for years," said Stark, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "He was passed over for promotion when I was awarded the post," he said vainly. He clearly considered himself to be the superior candidate. Dan and Keri felt instantly sorry for Mr. Williams. Losing your promotion was bad enough, but to an arse hole like Stark ? What could be worse ?

"Could make him a possible mole," Tom muttered. "I need to follow this up a bit longer. Then I should be able to narrow it down to one individual," he said confidently.

"Can you ?" asked Stark, apparently shocked.

"Yes," responded Tom simply. "Is that Okay ?" he asked.

"Erm, yes, excellent ! Of course," said Stark, looking uncomfortable. "Computers hey !" he added, chuckling unconvincingly. "Well, I'll let you get on with it," he said, almost pushing them out of the room.

Tom was still tapping on his laptop as they walked down the corridor. "Okay, that was seriously weird," said Dan.

"I'm with you on that," agreed Keri.

"Hm ?" asked Tom, looking up briefly from his computer.

"Tom, you seriously need to keep an eye on what's going on around you," warned Dan, before Tom tripped over a low table at the side of the corridor. Dan and Keri grabbed him before he could fall.

"Uh, yeah," agreed Tom sheepishly, hugging his laptop tightly to his chest.


	9. Chapter 9

**MI High are recruited to a special project. They will work with the Deputy Prime Minister to find the mole in her organisation. They have friends and enemies, but will they be able to tell the difference ? An unexpected casualty.**

" _Hm ?" asked Tom, looking up briefly from his computer._

" _Tom, you seriously need to keep an eye on what's going on around you," warned Dan, before Tom tripped over a low table at the side of the corridor. Dan and Keri grabbed him before he could fall._

" _Uh, yeah," agreed Tom sheepishly, hugging his laptop tightly to his chest._

Dan and Keri phoned Mr. Milton and met up in the coffee room. "So, how is it going ?" asked Mr. Milton with a smile. "I hope Mr. Stark isn't getting you down ?" he asked.

Keri giggled. "What makes you think that ?" she asked sarcastically.

"Well, he does have a way with people," said Mr. Milton dryly.

This made Dan and Keri snort with laughter. "You could say that," agreed Dan. "Tom thinks there are three possibles for the leak of the files earlier. They are Mr. Stark, you and a guy called Williams," he explained. Mr. Milton raised his eyebrows at the mention of his name and Dan shrugged apologetically. "Mr. Stark thinks that Mr. Williams is a possible because he was passed over for promotion by Mr. Stark," he said.

Mr. Milton leaned back in his chair and screwed up his face. "To be honest I would be more likely to suspect me than Williams," he said thoughtfully.

"Maybe not the best idea to tell us though," whispered Keri conspiratorially.

Mr. Milton laughed. "Or, Mr. Stark himself," he added. He sighed. "I don't know. Williams is just an ordinary bloke. He's really good at tech, just not so tight on the physical security side, you know what I mean ?" he asked them.

"A bit like Tom then," said Dan.

Mr. Milton smiled and nodded. "Well, there's no harm in Tom finding out if it is Williams, but I would like you to do it quietly please. He's a nice guy and I don't want him to be accused unnecessarily," he explained.

"Oh, the bug !" exclaimed Keri. Mr. Milton looked at her confused. "It wasn't there ! I mean, when we started it wasn't there. And then it was. But it shouldn't have been. It showed up ! I mean, if it was there, we would have found it wouldn't we ? So that means it wasn't, until it was," Keri rambled. "And !" she continued, not seeing the blank look on Mr. Milton's face. "There had to have been another one sending out the leak. And that one, must have come in too, with someone. We don't know who yet. And they might not know they're bugged. They might though, if they put it there. That and the other one," she added, folding her arms and looking at Dan and Mr. Milton thoughtfully.

"Would you like me to translate that into English ?" Dan asked Mr. Milton.

"I think, yes," said Mr. Milton.

"Mrs. Brash's briefing was leaked. You know about that ?" Dan asked. Mr. Milton nodded. "The bug which Mr. Stark produced during the meeting wasn't there when the meeting started. We had already swept the room for bugs. We need to find out who planted it. Secondly, the leak he found was already ongoing before he came into the room, which means that the bug came into the room with someone. We suspect there are two bugs: the one Mr. Stark found and the one which was transmitting," explained Dan.

"Couldn't it just be the same bug that Mr. Stark found ?" asked Mr. Milton curiously.

Dan's mouth hung open. "That's a good point," he agreed reluctantly. He looked at Keri with a frown.

"We thought Mr. Stark had brought it in himself at first," she explained. "We then wondered how the leak had been going on during the meeting, if that bug hadn't been there at the start," she added.

"So there are two possibilities," said Mr. Milton, ticking off his fingers. "Either Mr. Stark brought in a bug for some bizarre reason, or he found a bug which someone else brought in with them and planted before the meeting started," he said.

"How did he find the bug ?" asked Dan.

"What do you mean ?" asked Mr. Milton.

"He wasn't holding a scanner or anything. He walked straight in, stuck his hand under the table and pulled it out," Dan told him.

"I have no idea," said Mr. Milton slowly. "He is a man of unusual talents," he said thoughtfully.

"You mean, apart from pissing people off ?" asked Keri, without thinking. She slapped a hand over her mouth. Dan struggled to hold back a smirk and failed. "Sorry," Keri mouthed to Mr. Milton.

"Yes, well, his reputation often precedes him," Mr. Milton said cryptically, his face straight.

"Tom was going to track back to where the feed was coming from," explained Dan. "We're not much help with that," he said, feeling rather helpless.

"Dan's more the punching people in the face guy," explained Keri helpfully.

Dan was obviously about to protest, but Mr. Milton tactfully cut in. "Excellent. Hopefully we will find someone for you to punch soon," he said with a gentle smile. "Let's make sure it's the right one first though, yes ?" he suggested.

After Mr. Milton had left, Dan and Keri also left the coffee room. Dan's shoulders slumped and he stuck his hands in his pockets. "This is a nightmare. I have no idea what's going on and I have no idea how to find out !" he complained.

"Don't worry," Keri attempted to soothe him. "Tom will come up with something and that will put us back on the right path," she said firmly.

Dan shrugged and sighed. "Hope so," he said glumly.

Meanwhile, Tom had been juggling searches and trying to track down his two targets. He felt so close to finding out who had accessed the missing files. It was possibly Mr. Williams, but it could just have easily have been Mr. Stark. He had managed to eliminate Mr. Milton. He had been out of the country on holiday when one set of files was taken, and it wasn't possible to get access from outside the complex, let alone from another country. He had to admit that whoever had designed the computer security in this place had done a good job.

Tom was down to two suspects. He realised then that he had wandered past a vending machine without noticing. He wondered if the machine stocked Jaffa Cakes. Tom loved Jaffa Cakes more than anything else. It did ! Result ! Tom tucked his laptop under one arm and rummaged around in his pocket for change. He found some coins and started to feed them into the machine, one at a time. He spotted a can of orange drink that he liked too. When he had inserted enough for both, he selected the can of drink. The machine slowly dispensed the drink. Holding the drink in his left hand and with his laptop tucked under his right arm, Tom had no hands free. Groaning, he raised his left hand, still holding the can and used the tip of his little finger to delicately push the button to select the Jaffa Cakes. He felt the moment of satisfaction as the little packet of biscuits dropped into the dispenser, then he felt really strange. It was as if the world was misting over. Tom watched the world tip to one side and he fell to the floor, unable to move. What was happening to him ?

Panicked, Tom heard footsteps coming up behind him. He wanted to cry out for help, but couldn't move his mouth or tongue. He was frozen. Someone slid the laptop out from under his arm, but he couldn't see who it was. He could hear someone tapping on the keys. It seemed to go on for ages, before the laptop was replaced on the floor by his side. Then he heard the footsteps walking away. Help ! Anyone ? His phone started to ring. Tom lay on the floor, glassy eyed, staring at the wall in front of him.


	10. Chapter 10

**MI High are recruited to a special project. They will work with the Deputy Prime Minister to find the mole in her organisation. They have friends and enemies, but will they be able to tell the difference ? Another victim ?**

 _Panicked, Tom heard footsteps coming up behind him. He wanted to cry out for help, but couldn't move his mouth or tongue. He was frozen. Someone slid the laptop out from under his arm, but he couldn't see who it was. He could hear someone tapping on the keys. It seemed to go on for ages, before the laptop was replaced on the floor by his side. Then he heard the footsteps walking away. Help ! Anyone ? His phone started to ring. Tom lay on the floor, glassy eyed, staring at the wall in front of him._

Keri stood waiting for Tom to answer his phone. "He's not answering," she said. "Maybe he's gone to the toilet," she suggested.

"That wouldn't stop him answering the phone," muttered Dan. "I've seen him playing Bladequest in the toilets," he added.

"Eew !" complained Keri. "Gross !"

Dan looked around and then pulled out his Spy Pod from its hiding place. Keri craned unsuccessfully to try and see where in his suit it was hidden. Dan gave her a funny look. "What are you doing ?" he asked.

"Um, nothing !" said Keri, as innocently as she could. She was so going to find that hidden pocket !

Dan shook his head and checked on Tom's whereabouts on his Spy Pod. "Uh, here he is," he said, pointing to the schematic of the building. "Next to the vending machine. Makes sense," he added. "Come on !" Dan was in no particular hurry to find Tom so was still strolling along the corridor towards the vending machine before he registered the body lying on the floor. "Oh God !" he blurted out, sprinting the last few metres before kneeling down beside this friend. "Tom ! Oh God, no, Tom !" he called out, his shaking hand feeling for a pulse on Tom's neck. "He nearly cried with relief when he felt the slow, steady, but shallow beat of Tom's heart. "He's alive," he whispered to Keri.

Keri already had her phone out. He could see tears forming at the corners of her eyes. "Mr. Milton ! It's Tom ! He's been poisoned too ! He's alive, but we need an ambulance. Quickly ! Please ?" she begged. Keri slumped to the floor beside Dan. He was taking off his jacket and laying it over Tom in an attempt to keep him warm. Still shocked, Keri looked around them. "What was he doing ?" she asked, sounding slightly dazed.

"He must have been getting something out of the vending machine," said Dan, vaguely.

Keri leaned over to look. "Oh yeah. Jaffa Cakes. His favourite," she commented, before reaching over to pick them out of the dispensing tray.

"Don't touch that !" shouted Dan.

Keri leapt back in shock. "What ?" she asked in confusion.

"Tom must have touched something. It has to be something on the machine," pointed out Dan, pulling Keri away from the machine. "Look, he had a can of fizz," he said, pointing to the can lying on the floor.

"Well, it wasn't the can," said Keri, thoughtfully, "because he got the Jaffa Cakes second."

"You're right," agreed Dan. "We'll need to get the machine checked out. I think one of us should watch them doing it," he said quietly.

Keri pulled up close to him, their shoulders now touching. "What do you mean ?" she asked.

Dan felt her closeness and his thoughts faltered. "Well, erm, someone round here is poisoning people and getting away with it. It has to be an inside job," pointed out Dan, now thoroughly distracted by the scent of Keri's hair. "Um, well, that same person could be carrying out the forensic examination," he explained.

"Oh ! Good point," agreed Keri. Her eyes dropped, still searching for the tell-tale bulge which would give away the Spy Pod's hiding place. Where was that blasted secret pocket ?

"What are you looking at ?" asked Dan suspiciously.

Keri blushed bright red, aware suddenly of where she was staring. "Oh, uh, Tom !" she lied. "I was checking his pupils, to see if he could focus, you know," she said, grinning inanely. Dan looked incredulous. She didn't blame him. She wouldn't believe her either. "Okay ! Honestly ? It's this whole secret pocket thing," she admitted finally. "I've been trying to work out where you guys were hiding your Spy Pods, but I've never manage to work it out. It's driving me nuts !" she said.

"Oh !" Dan said, looking like he was trying desperately not to laugh. "Well, it's definitely not in there," he said meaningfully.

"Ow !" complained Keri. "There is a bulge !" she pointed out hotly.

This time, Dan went bright red. "Um, yeah, there probably is," he said, shifting uncomfortably. Boy, it was hot in here !

There was a thunder of approaching footsteps. "Oh, thank God, they're here !" Dan muttered. "Over here !" he called out.

A medical team checked over Tom and Keri agreed with Dan that he would go with Tom in the ambulance. Keri would stay and watch the examination of the vending machine. After the two boys had gone Keri noticed Mr. Milton watching her. "Are you going to watch the machine being checked ?" he asked her quietly. Keri nodded. "Good move. Watch everything !" Mr. Milton murmured quietly. "You guys are definitely closing in. Would you like me to stay with you ?" he asked.

Keri thought about this and decided it would be a good idea. "Yes please," she said quietly. "I hope Tom's going to be Okay," she said.

"Me too. I'll make sure his laptop is safe and then we can go through it," said Mr. Milton.

Keri quickly agreed. She should have thought about that ! Get a grip girl, she thought to herself. You're on an investigation and Tom is depending on you. What was she thinking ? They could all be depending on her. People were dead ! Nervously she gulped and focussed her full attention on what was going on around her.

A small team of people in white overalls, wearing thick rubber gloves carefully dusted and examined the vending machine. "The poison is on the dispensing button for the Jaffa Cakes," said a woman wearing a face mask. "There's definitely enough to kill someone. It looks like only a tiny amount has rubbed off though," she added.

"Jaffa Cakes. Is that significant ?" Mr. Milton asked Keri.

"It's his favourite," said Keri. "How would anyone know that ?" she asked.

"Could he have told anyone ?" asked Mr. Milton.

"Has he told you ?" Keri asked him. Mr. Milton shook his head. "Well he doesn't know anyone else here, does he ?" she asked. "So, no, I don't think so. Someone must have had access to his files, or someone he knows well," she said. Her face set in anger. "Someone wanted to kill Tom !" she said angrily.

"What ?" asked another voice. It was Aneisha. She looked really upset. "Who wanted to kill Tom ?" she demanded angrily.

Keri sighed. She really needed to think before she opened her mouth ! What did Dan say ? "Keri just opens her mouth and lets her belly rumble !" Yeah, that was it. "Sorry Aneisha, I was thinking out loud," she said quietly. "Tom was alive when we found him. They're taking him to the hospital. Dan is with him," she explained. She knew that this was all Aneisha really cared about.

"Someone tried to kill Tom ?" asked Aneisha.

"Yes," said Keri.

"And we're going to get the bastard !" hissed Aneisha.

"Damn right !" agreed Keri.

 **A.N. Confused ? Me too. You'll know what's happening just as soon as I work it out :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**MI High are recruited to a special project. They will work with the Deputy Prime Minister to find the mole in her organisation. They have friends and enemies, but will they be able to tell the difference ? Sooo sorry guys. It's been ages and I've been reading everyone else's stories and having fun. Thanks to everyone who has been putting in the effort to review. You're the good guys. I think I've sunk into the fairly average category recently. Must do better ! So, would you hire this guy as head of security ? Nope, me neither.**

" _Tom was alive when we found him. They're taking him to the hospital. Dan is with him," she explained. She knew that this was all Aneisha really cared about._

" _Someone tried to kill Tom ?" asked Aneisha._

" _Yes," said Keri._

" _And we're going to get the bastard !" hissed Aneisha._

" _Damn right !" agreed Keri._

Dan sat in the ambulance, his eyes fixed on Tom's staring ones. It was like Tom was dead, but he had kept reassuring himself, as did the paramedic, that Tom's vital signs were healthy and stable, if a little slow. Dan gnawed at his thumb knuckle again. It was something he only did when extremely anxious. He made himself stop biting his own thumb, forcing the hand between his legs to stop himself from starting again. Get a grip Dan ! Tom needed you to think straight. So, what was the first question ? Why Tom ? Yeah, it had to be aimed at him. Why else poison the button that only dispensed Jaffa Cakes ? Unless, of course, there was another Jaffa Cake monster in the building. Dan thought about it for a minute. Nope, Tom had to have found out something about the poisoner. That must be why Tom was targeted. The next question of course, was who did it ? Yes, that was the toughie. Who tried to poison Tom ? Did they mean to kill him, or knock him out ? He'd have to wait for the results from the forensics team before he knew that. So, if they meant to kill Tom, and they hadn't succeeded, would they try again ? Dan looked at Tom again. Whoever this bastard, secret-leaking poisoner was, they were going to have to get through Dan first.

The ambulance arrived at its destination. Dan got up to follow the stretcher into the hospital building but was stopped by a security guard. "I have to go with him. He's in danger !" Dan protested.

"And you are ?" asked the man impassively.

"Erm," Dan stalled. He didn't know whether he was at an MI9 medical facility or a regular hospital. What should he say ?

"Which service are you with ?" asked the security guard more patiently.

"MI9," Dan said finally.

The man's eyebrows raised and he pulled out a phone. "Your name please Agent ?" he asked.

"Morgan. Dan Morgan," said Dan, shifting from foot to foot.

The man typed some information into the phone and then glanced back to Dan. "You can go in," said the security guard, inputting a security code into the door lock. "Emergency is first on the right," he said. Dan thanked the man and jogged quickly inside, breathing a sigh of relief.

Dan stopped in a waiting area, looking around him in confusion. "Agent Morgan ?" asked a woman behind a desk. Dan nodded.

"You can wait over there," she said, pointing to some chairs. "The doctors will speak to you once they have everything stabilised," she said. Okay, more waiting. Dan sat down and started gnawing on his knuckle again.

Meanwhile Aneisha and Keri were watching the forensic team like hawks. A woman in full protective clothing was placing a sample into a device which would have looked fairly normal if perched on one of Frank's laboratory benches. Sitting on the floor of a corridor it looked pretty odd. The woman pressed some buttons and stared at a screen. "Hm ! This is the fish poison alright," she commented to the others in her team.

"It was all over the button for, erm, Jaffa Cakes," said a man going over the vending machine inch by inch. "We haven't found it on any of the other buttons, or the dispensing controls," he said. "It's just the Jaffa Cakes. Does your mate like Jaffa Cakes ?" he asked Keri and Aneisha. They nodded firmly. "How about the rest of you ?" asked the man. They shrugged. "I guess it was aimed specifically at him then," said the man before going back to his search.

"You shouldn't jump to conclusions," admonished the woman. "Lots of people like Jaffa Cakes," she added.

The man turned with his hands on his hips. "Oh yeah ? More than Snickers ?" he demanded hotly.

"Yes, even more than Snickers ! Seriously Matthew, you need to get over this childish obsession with confectionary !" the woman scolded. "Anyway, Mars Bars are better," she muttered under her breath.

"Are not !" complained the man.

Keri and Aneisha exchanged looks. "Do these guys remind you of Tom ?" whispered Keri.

"Totally !" agreed Aneisha.

The woman broke away from the argument as her machine beeped. "Oh, got a result. There was enough poison on that button to kill about three adults," she said. She frowned. "They weren't taking any chances were they ?" she asked vaguely. Then she gave a guilty glance at Aneisha and Keri and mouthed "sorry" at them. They both gave her a small smile. "Why do you think he wasn't killed ?" she asked the man at the machine.

"Judging from the minute fingerprint, I would say he only touched the button with the absolute tip of his little finger," said the man, "probably because he was holding a laptop and can of fizz at the same time." He demonstrated by juggling his own laptop, a bottle of liquid and pressing a button with his finger. "Hence he only absorbed a tiny proportion of the poison. Damned lucky if you ask me !" he added.

"So," began Aneisha slowly, "Someone did try to kill Tom, but by chance, they failed," she said.

"Yes, entirely by one big, lucky chance," said the woman, nodding.

"Have you finished with Tom's laptop ?" Aneisha asked. She knew that Tom would want it back. It was like his life support system.

"All done and dusted. No poison," said the male technician, handing her the laptop.

"I wonder if Stark's got another fish missing," said Keri. Aneisha looked at her and they both leapt to their feet. "You'll send us a copy of the report ?" Keri asked the woman. She assured them they'd get a copy, as they dashed off to Mr. Stark's office, Aneisha still clutching Tom's laptop.

The two agents knocked before bursting straight into Mr. Stark's office. He was sitting at his desk and looked up when the two girls burst in. "Mr. Stark, have you got all your fish ?" demanded Keri a little breathlessly.

Stark paused theatrically for a moment, and then said, "My fish ? Oh, let's have a look shall we ?" before walking over to the tanks. "Another puffer missing," he commented finally. "I assume someone has been poisoned ?" he asked.

"Tom," said Keri. "Didn't you know ?" she asked in surprise. "I thought that being the head of security around here, you would know," she burbled.

"What do you mean ?" demanded Stark suspiciously.

"Well, didn't anyone tell you someone else had been poisoned inside the building ?" asked Aneisha, looking puzzled.

"I've been in my office all day !" snapped Stark.

"Oh, well it wouldn't have been easy for someone to take a puffer fish then," said Keri reasonably.

Stark's mouth opened and closed without making any sound. "No, not today anyway. I don't count my fish every second of every day though !" he said rather reluctantly. "I do have things to do !" he added. "If that is all ?" he asked, waving towards the door.

"Well, don't you think we ought to dust the tanks for fingerprints ?" asked Keri, putting her hands on her hips.

"Oh," said Stark looking amused. "I suppose so, though I don't suppose they will find anyone's but mine. I don't allow anyone else to touch the fish," he said importantly. "And, I'm sorry about your friend," he said seriously.

"Oh, he should be Okay," said Aneisha. "Apparently he only absorbed a tiny amount of the poison because he used the tip of his little finger on the poisoned button. It was weird how someone knew Tom loved Jaffa Cakes though. They would have to know him really well," she said thoughtfully.

Stark's face froze for a second. "Oh, that is good news," he said quietly. He looked sharply at the laptop Aneisha was holding. "Is that your friend's laptop ?" he asked. Aneisha nodded. Stark immediately looked happier. "Well, I wish your friend a speedy recovery," he said. "Tell forensics to call when they're ready will you ?" he asked airily before returning to his desk.

Keri and Aneisha left the office and stopped in the corridor outside. "Something's not right," said Aneisha.

"What, apart from the lousy security to Stark's office even after his fish have been used to poison people, and he's the head of security ?" asked Keri sarcastically.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey, how've you been ? It's been a while... Sorry !**

 **MI High are recruited to a special project. They will work with the Deputy Prime Minister to find the mole in her organisation. They have friends and enemies, but will they be able to tell the difference ? Homing in on a killer.**

 _Keri and Aneisha left the office and stopped in the corridor outside. "Something's not right," said Aneisha._

" _What, apart from the lousy security to Stark's office even after his fish have been used to poison people, and he's the head of security ?" asked Keri sarcastically._

Aneisha said nothing for a minute. "Yeah, it's kind of weird isn't it ? He's made no effort to stop people using his fish to poison people, AND, you think he would at least care about someone killing all of his precious fish !" she concluded. "We need to warn Dan to keep Tom safe. Someone tried to kill him. They might try again once they know he's still alive," she announced.

Keri pulled out her phone and called Dan. "Dan ! What's happening ?" she asked. Aneisha strained to hear what Dan was saying but couldn't hear. She mouthed silently to Keri to tell her what Dan was saying. Keri just nodded seriously, staring into space. "Okay, well that's good isn't it ?" she asked. "Oh, and make sure Tom stays safe. Whoever put that poison on the button definitely meant to kill him," she added. "Okay, that's good. Oh, and we need to go through Tom's laptop and look for clues. Can you find out the password please ?" she asked. "What ? How do you know ?" she asked, looking baffled. "Ooooooh !" she said grinning. "That makes total sense," she said. "Okay, see ya !" she said, closing the call. She looked triumphantly at Aneisha who was frowning at her in annoyance. "What ?" she asked.

"Well ?" said Aneisha in pure frustration.

"Oh, yeah, sorry," said Keri. "Right, Tom is under MI9 guard. He's going to be fine. He's starting to move again. We should be able to speak to him in a couple of hours. Dan is coming back over here. Oh, and Tom's password is 'lovelyaneisha'," she said finally with a mile wide grin.

Aneisha's face burned with embarrassment and pleasure. "Really ?" she asked, struggling not to smile.

"Try it," said Keri, opening the laptop up and handing it to Aneisha.

When the password prompt appeared, Aneisha typed in 'lovelyaneisha'. "Welcome Tom !" was now written across the screen. Aneisha felt a warm glow spreading through her whole body. Wow, he really did like her !

The two girls started working through the file stores. "Nothing ! There's nothing !" said Keri in frustration.

"I think stuff has been deleted," said Aneisha thoughtfully. "Look, there's a big gap in the dates. All of the file dates stop five days ago," she explained. Keri checked and saw that Aneisha was right. A shadow fell across them both, making them look up.

"Anything ?" demanded Mr. Stark sharply.

"No, someone has deleted all of the recent files," said Aneisha dejectedly.

"But Tom is going to be Okay !" said Keri cheerily. "We should be able to talk to him in a couple of hours," she said.

Stark stroked his chin. "Well, I'd better pay him a visit," he said calmly. "Right. I want you three in my office. Fifteen minutes !" he barked, before stalking away.

"What's that all about ?" asked Keri.

"I don't know, but I guess we'd better show or he's going to throw a wobbly," said Aneisha. Keri snorted. She couldn't take the guy seriously. He was such an ass !

"Who is going to throw a wobbly ?" asked Dan, appearing beside them.

"Stark. He wants us in his office in fifteen," said Keri. "Make that ten," she said, checking her watch. "Might as well shut the laptop down. Save the battery a bit," she said to Aneisha, who nodded and started closing down Tom's machine.

Dan's phone rang. It was Frank. "Hey Frank !" said Dan, who had never been happier to hear his mentor's voice.

"How's it going Dan ?" asked Frank, sounding worried. "I heard that Tom had been poisoned," he said.

"Oh, yeah, he's going to be Okay. He got poisoned with one of Security Chief Stark's fish," explained Dan. "The guy needs to get a lock on his tanks !" he said. He looked up to see Keri tapping her watch.

"What, did you say Stark ?" asked Frank's voice, sounding puzzled.

"Yeah, he's the security chief. Speaking of whom, we have to go see him now in his office," said Dan. "I'd better get going. The guy throws his toys out of the pram if he doesn't get his own way," Dan prattled away. He was already pulling the phone away from his ear. His thumb was over the red button as Frank was shouting "No, don't go ! Dan, you mustn't go !" inaudibly into the phone. Dan closed the call.

"Okay, let's get it over with shall we ?" he said. "This guy so pisses me off," he growled.

"Better start counting then," warned Aneisha as they started walking up the corridor towards Stark's office. They all set their phones to silent, so nobody picked up the frantic calls from Frank.

"One," said Dan, taking a deep breath.

"Shouldn't you wait until we actually get there ?" asked Keri reasonably.

"Nope ! I'm hacked off already," said Dan.

Aneisha knocked on Stark's door and he called them in. There were three chairs set out in front of Stark's desk. "Sit !" instructed Stark. Aneisha and Keri sighed and walked towards them. Dan folded his arms angrily and plonked himself down in the seat, staring straight ahead. Maybe if he didn't look the guy in the eyes, he would be able to stop himself punching him.

"Well, aren't you a pretty little set of boys and girls," snarled Stark.

"What ?" snapped Dan. This was the last straw. The girls said nothing. Dan shot them a puzzled look and saw them staring glassily into the distance, unmoving. It was like Tom all over again. Their hands were resting on the arms of their chairs. Dan unfolded his arms and looked down. The arms of his chair had a sticky sheen on them. Poison ! "No !" yelled Dan, leaping to his feet, careful not to touch the arms of his chair. He moved to Keri's seat and pushed her arms off the chair. He was doing the same to Aneisha when an arm wrapped itself around his neck, cutting off his air supply.

"Think you're so damned clever do you ?" screamed Stark from behind his head. "Damned kids ! If it wasn't for MI High, I would still be Chief Agent at MI9 !" he yelled. "I'll teach you !" he yelled, sounding more and more demented.

Dan felt himself being thrown from side to side. He desperately wanted air, but Stark had his throat locked tight. Desperately, Dan fell back on his training and swept his leg back under the knees of the older, slightly shorter, agent. Stark stumbled and his grip loosened slightly. Dan twisted and managed to shake off Stark's grip. He gasped for air, lunging again to push Aneisha's other arm off the chair. He succeeded, but Stark grabbed his left arm and twisted it behind his back.

"Let's finish the job," snarled Stark, pushing Dan back towards his chair. He was pushing Dan's face down towards the poison-coated wooden arms of the chair.

Dan tried to push back, but the pain from his twisted arm stopped him. "Aargh !" he groaned, frantically trying to twist out of the older man's grip. His face was now only inches from the poison. At last he had a brain wave, and Dan put all his energy into a kick, throwing the chair backwards away from him with his knee. "Ha !" he yelled triumphantly.

"You think ?" snapped Stark, letting go of him suddenly. Dan staggered forwards, once the pressure on his arm was released. He turned to face his opponent just in time to see Stark coming at him, with an object in his hand. Dan just had time to register a large glass paperweight in Stark's hand, before it smashed into his forehead. The world exploded into darkness and Dan crashed sideways to the floor, lying motionless.

"Hah ! Thought you could put one over me did you ?" snarled Stark triumphantly. Gasping a deep breath, he staggered slightly and put out his hand to steady himself, resting it briefly on the arm of a chair. "Oh sh..." he managed to say, before crashing glassy eyed to the floor, his hand slipping off the poisoned arm of Keri's chair.

Stark's office was silent. All that could be heard was the gentle bubbling of the fish tanks.


	13. Chapter 13

**MI High are recruited to a special project. They will work with the Deputy Prime Minister to find the mole in her organisation. They have friends and enemies, but will they be able to tell the difference ? Oh, that Stark !**

" _Hah ! Thought you could put one over me did you ?" snarled Stark triumphantly. Gasping a deep breath, he staggered slightly and put out his hand to steady himself, resting it briefly on the arm of a chair. "Oh sh..." he managed to say, before crashing glassy eyed to the floor, his hand slipping off the poisoned arm of Keri's chair._

 _Stark's office was silent. All that could be heard was the gentle bubbling of the fish tanks._

Dan woke to a throbbing head, staring into whiteness. Frowning he managed to turn his head slightly and a face came into view. He had no idea who it was. It was a woman. She smiled at him. "Hello Dan. I'm sorry, but I'm probably not the first person you wanted to see when you woke up," she said gently. "Mrs. Brash ?" she hinted. "Do you remember ?" she asked.

Dan lifted his hand to his aching head. "Uh, what ?" he mumbled.

The woman, Mrs. Brash took hold of his hand and pulled it away from his head. "I think you'd better not touch," she said. "You've got a nasty cut on your head. Do you remember what happened ?" she asked.

"Tom ! Keri ! Aneisha !" shouted Dan suddenly remembering, trying to sit up. Instantly feeling sick and dizzy, he flopped back down.

"Wait now," said Mrs. Brash gently. "You need to lie still. You don't need to worry about your friends. They are all fine. They were waiting for you to wake up, but Agent London persuaded them to go for a break and something to eat. I offered to sit with you for a while. I must admit, I hadn't thought about what you would think if you woke up," she said with a friendly smile.

Dan's dizziness started to wear off. "Um, aren't you supposed to be Deputy Prime Ministering, or something," he said vaguely. "Why, why ?" he stammered, sounding very confused.

Mrs. Brash smiled again. "Well, considering how much trouble you and your friends went to saving us from our, frankly rather mad, security chief, I felt that I jolly well owed you all a visit !" she said.

"Stark," muttered Dan.

"Yes, hoist with his own petard !" said Mrs. Brash, giggling rather girlishly.

"Uh ?" mumbled Dan. He had no idea what she was talking about.

"Oh, you're awake. Thankyou Mrs. Brash," said a familiar voice.

Dan painfully turned his head to find Frank smiling reassuringly at him. "Petard ?" asked Dan in confusion.

Frank looked at Mrs. Brash questioningly.

"Ah, I think Dan is struggling to follow me," said Mrs. Brash. "I said that Mr. Stark was hoist with his own petard," she explained.

"Ah," said Frank, realising that it probably wasn't just Dan's concussion which was making it hard to understand Mrs. Brash. "A petard was a kind of bomb used to blow open castle doors," he explained. "Sometimes they blew up in the face of the person using them. Hence we use the term for someone who is harmed by the very thing they are using to harm others," he explained. Dan frowned. He was missing something. "We believe that after Stark knocked you out, he allowed his hand to touch the arm of one of the chairs and he effectively poisoned himself.

Dan grinned. "Result," he said, quietly. It was a very satisfying payback for poisoning Tom, Keri and Aneisha. "The others ?" he asked. "Mrs. erm Brash says they're Okay ?" he asked.

"Yes, they're all fine. They've been sitting with you for hours now. I made them go for a break and Mrs. Brash kindly offered to sit with you for a while," explained Frank.

Dan looked back across to the woman sitting patiently beside him. "Um, thankyou," he said. He frowned. "You seem, different," he said, looking puzzled.

Mrs. Brash smiled happily and tapped the side of her head. "You have young Miss Jones to thank for that. Can you see them ?" she asked.

Dan shook his head very slightly and then frowned. "Oh !" he said. "Just."

"Yes, they're ever so good aren't they ? I wish I knew how clever hearing aids are nowadays. I really shouldn't have been so afraid to admit that I couldn't hear properly. I feel like I've been given a new lease of life," she said, smiling widely.

"I'm glad," said Dan.

"Me too," she said, standing up. "Well, I suppose I had better get back. They will think I've left the country," she said briskly. "Mr. London !" she said, shaking Frank's hand. Then she turned back to Dan. "If there is anything you would like as a reward for your considerable bravery young man, please let Mr. Milton know. Goodbye then," she said, before leaving the room.

"Dan ! You're awake !" squealed an excited voice.

Dan winced at the pitch and volume. His head was really hurting now.

"Maybe a bit lower Keri," suggested Tom quietly.

"Oh, sorry," she whispered. "I got a bit carried away," she admitted.

Dan looked at his friends with considerable relief. "I'm so glad," he whispered. His eyes teared up. "I thought .." he broke off.

"We know," said Keri gently. She touched Dan's cheek and squeezed his hand tightly. "We're all fine. You got hurt the most in the end," she said, her voice breaking slightly.

"I'm fine," Dan murmured.

"Yeah, we can see that," said Tom gently but still sarcastically. "Look, we're all still standing, and there aren't any side effects. Pretty nifty poison as it happens !" he said cheerfully.

"It did kill someone," Aneisha reminded him.

"Ooh, yes. Sorry," Tom said rather shame faced.

"Stark ?" asked Dan.

"Prison," said Frank with great satisfaction.

Dan's head was filled with questions, but he couldn't work out how to ask them. He rested back against the pillows, feeling exhausted.

"I think we'd better let you get some sleep," said Frank gently. He waved to the others to leave. "Get some rest Dan. We'll fill you in when you're feeling better," he said.

Dan let his eyes close and sank back into darkness.

"Okay, come on Frank, spill !" demanded Keri as soon as they were out in the corridor. "What happened ?" she asked.

Frank sighed. "Allright, but not here. Let's get outside," he suggested.

They left the hospital and walked round the corner to a small park, found a quiet corner and gathered round Frank. "Right, I called Dan, and he told me that Security Chief Stark had asked you to see him. I recognised the name immediately. When he was Chief Agent Stark of MI9, my old MI High teams had to work for him. He hated MI High. The funny thing was that he was so incompetent that the high success rate of MI High missions was the only thing keeping him in his job. He hated us so much that he wouldn't get involved in the missions. That was what made us successful. Anyway, someone must have caught up with him, because he was fired for incompetence. I knew he blamed MI High, but I didn't ever take him seriously because he was such an idiot and he blamed MI High for everything anyway," explained Frank. He rubbed his forehead. "I never dreamed it would come to this," he muttered.

"But he still got a job right ? Why did he still have it in for MI9 ?" asked Aneisha.

"Who knows !" said Frank. "But clearly he was still sore with MI High. It was him who asked for an MI High team specifically when material was leaked from Number 10," he said.

"But it was Stark himself who arranged the leaks," said Tom. "I tracked his source files, but he deleted all the stuff I had on my laptop," he explained.

"Yes, I imagine his plan was to kill the others and then visit the hospital to kill you before you could spill the beans," said Frank grimly. This earned him a short silence.

"Anyway, I quickly realised that Stark had to be behind this somehow and I realised you must all be in danger. Unfortunately I wasn't quick enough and Dan closed the call before I could warn him," said Frank. "I'm sorry," he added.

"It's Okay Frank. It was Dan's bad temper that saved us," said Keri cheerfully.

"What do you mean ?" asked Frank, genuinely baffled.

"Well, Dan was mad at Stark, as per usual," explained Keri. "So, he started counting again to stop himself punching Stark in the face. So me and Aneisha walked in and sat down on these chairs, and Dan was so, like, pissed that he folded his arms and sat down. So he didn't touch the arms of the chairs. We did," she said, stopping the flow of her speech suddenly. "Dan ran over and pushed our arms off the poison, but then Stark grabbed him round the neck and started choking him," said Keri. "He tried to push Dan on to the poison, but Dan kicked the chair away," she said.

"It was horrible," said Aneisha. "I couldn't do anything. I just had to sit there and watch it, like it was a film or something." Tom squeezed her hand tightly and Aneisha gave him a grateful smile.

"Anyway, Dan kicked him good and hard and Stark let go, but then he grabbed this big thing off his desk and whacked Dan over the head with it," Keri paused, reliving the horror of what she had watched. Her mouth opened and closed a few times and she licked her lips before she could carry on. "Then Stark kind of staggered about a bit and put his hand on the arm of my chair," said Keri. "Bingo ! The stupid ass knocked himself out. It was great !" she squealed.

Frank grinned. "Yes, that's what Agent Milton told me," he said.

"Agent Milton ?" asked Tom.

"Yes, well, it seems that someone wasn't happy at Stark's request for a junior team. Apparently there had been comments made in certain quarters about Stark's competence. MI5 placed an agent into Number 10," explained Frank.

"Mr. Milton !" said Aneisha. "Wow, I never guessed," she said.

"Well, that is more or less the point," said Frank. "Anyway, I knew MI5 had someone in there so I contacted them and pulled every string I knew about to get an emergency message through to Agent Milton. He found you and called the emergency services and dealt with Stark."

"Is Stark allright ?" asked Aneisha curiously.

"Yes, he only touched the poison briefly," said Frank, sounding disappointed. "Honestly, after what he did to all of you, I wouldn't be sorry to see the back of him," he said angrily.

"He's the chief of security and he's been leaking government secrets, just so he could get revenge on a bunch of teenagers he never even met !" exclaimed Keri. "And people think I'm immature !" she complained.

Tom leant across to her. "Not many people think you are immature Keri, only the people who know you," he said with a straight face.

"Well, if that's not the pot calling the kettle black I don't know what is !" said Aneisha, folding her arms in mock anger.

"I am extremely mature," complained Tom, pulling himself up to his full height.

"Biscuit ?" asked Keri.

"Ooh, where ?" asked Tom, searching all around him.

Frank sighed. Back to normal then.


	14. Chapter 14

**MI High are recruited to a special project. They will work with the Deputy Prime Minister to find the mole in her organisation. They have friends and enemies, but will they be able to tell the difference ? Keeping promises.**

" _I am extremely mature," complained Tom, pulling himself up to his full height._

" _Biscuit ?" asked Keri._

" _Ooh, where ?" asked Tom, searching all around him._

 _Frank sighed. Back to normal then._

Keri was puzzled when she got a text from Dan asking her to help him with something. Firstly, Dan knew she was shopping and how seriously she took shopping. Additionally, this was a shopping trip in London. Yes, London ! Like what was there not to get about that ? The second thing of course was that Dan was asking her to help him. Dan never, ever, ever asked for help. This was obviously the only reason she was currently dragging herself up the stairs to their flat carrying several large bags. It seemed like the more expensive the shop, the longer the cords on the bag had to be. One shop seemed to think that nobody under six feet tall would dream of crossing the doorstep. If Keri had been an inch shorter, the bag would have been dragging along the ground.

Keri balanced all of the bags along her arms while she tried to get the door key into the lock. She scrabbled about, unable to balance the weight and get the key into the slot. After several failed attempts, the door opened revealing Dan looking slightly puzzled. "I have never heard anyone take so long not being able to open a door," he said, looking at her in disbelief.

"Yeah, well, maybe a hand with the shopping ?" suggested Keri, the bags all sliding down to her shoulders as she raised her hands in exasperation.

"God ! How much stuff have you bought ?" asked Dan in disbelief. Taking all the bags from one arm, he peered at the contents. "How many shoes do you need anyway ?" he asked idly.

"Well, Mr. eight pairs of identical Vans !" said Keri sarcastically. "Some people like to have shoes which actually look different to each other !" she added, dumping the remaining bags inside the door. "I'll sort them out later. What did you want ?" she asked finally.

"Uh, yeah. Sorry about that. I wasn't getting anywhere," mumbled Dan, rubbing his head. He no longer had a dressing covering the cut on his head, but the bruising and gash were still visible behind the fringe which he had attempted to cover it with. He was supposed to be resting in their apartment since being discharged from hospital. He was also supposed to have somebody with him at all times in case of fainting, but everyone had wanted to go out that morning so they had effectively abandoned him on his own.

"I thought you were supposed to be resting," said Keri, feeling a little bit guilty now. She was at least pleased not to find him lying on the carpet when she got back. "What did you want me to help you with ?" she asked.

Dan waved her into the sitting room where a laptop lay open on the coffee table. "Whales," he said.

"Wales ? What do you want to know about Wales ?" asked Keri. Dan stared at her meaningfully. "Oh, yeah, those whales," said Keri, feeling embarrassed. Then she felt surprised. "You're not going to try to do something about whales are you, just because Preston asked you to ?"

"Why not ? He did ask and he would have done something himself if he had got picked to come," pointed out Dan.

Keri looked at Dan fondly. He really did want to help out the most irritating boy in school. "So, what could you do to help whales ?" she asked.

"That's basically the problem. I don't know," admitted Dan, dropping on to the couch glumly. "I have absolutely no idea. I have been looking up stuff for ages and I can't find anything I can do," he complained. "It's not like I can stop the Japanese whaling fleet, or go out and rescue stranded whales off the beach and stuff. What can I do ?" he asked. He looked miserable.

Keri sat down beside him and put her arm round his shoulders. "Well, you know what Tom always says," she said with a smile. Dan looked across at her with a frown. "One and half brains is always better than one," she said, grinning.

Dan laughed. "Don't listen to him. He's only teasing !" he said. "You've got a brain. In fact, you're cleverer than me. You get B's and A's and stuff. I mostly get C's and, yeah, well let's not go there !" he mumbled.

"So why do whales get stranded on beaches anyway ?" asked Keri. "They're supposed to be smart aren't they ?"

"One theory is that they get confused by ship and submarine sonar," explained Dan. "It's in one of these articles," he said, moving the cursor around the screen. "There !" he said pointing.

Keri read the article. It explained how some scientists thought that the low frequency sound waves of the sonar confused the whales direction finding and somehow made them run ashore instead of going out to sea. Keri leapt to her feet. "Oh, so Mr. Whale is swimming around, making those little noises he bounces off stuff," said Keri, making whales song sounds and flapping her arms up and down as she cruised around the furniture. "Then the ships start making those ping, ping noises, Mr. Whale thinks he needs to turn left and, whammo ! He's straight up on the beach," said Keri, belly-flopping herself on to the couch opposite. She looked at Dan expectantly. Dan was looking thunderstruck. "What ?" she asked.

"That has to be the weirdest thing I have ever seen you do," he said evenly.

Keri looked despondent. "I'm not really helping am I ?" she asked.

Dan laughed. "Oh, I don't know," he giggled. Keri always managed to make him laugh. "Maybe there's something about sonar," he said, getting inspiration. "I haven't tried that yet," he added.

Keri climbed off the couch and walked round to sit next to Dan as he typed. "Result !" exclaimed Dan. "Tomorrow's defence sub-committee will be considering a request by Greenpeace for a moratorium on sonar use in large sea estuaries," he read out from the screen. He paused. "I'm not sure what that means," he admitted.

"I means, they are thinking about banning the use of sonar in large sea estuaries for a while to see if it makes any difference to the whales," explained Keri. "I think," she added hurriedly.

Dan waved his finger excitedly at the screen. "That's it ! That's it ! The whale thing," he said.

"Are we going to a defence sub-committee meeting ?" asked Keri doubtfully.

"Yes we are !" said Dan, sounding determined. "How do we do that exactly ?" he asked after a moment.

====================== 000 ========================

The next day, after a phone call with Mrs. Brash, Dan found himself once again in his suit, sitting in a room full of people who all looked terribly important. Mrs. Brash had taken over, to the obvious annoyance of the older man who was supposed to be in charge. "Really, Mrs. Brash, this is quite against protocol !" complained the older man peevishly.

Mrs. Brash smiled at Dan and then lifted herself to her full height. "Mr. Attlebee, thankyou for your contributions, but Her Majesty's Government has made a promise to Agent Morgan, and that promise is going to be kept. There will be a moratorium on the use of sonar and I would be grateful if you see to it that the appropriate studies are commenced to determine its effectiveness," she said in tone of voice which clearly did not expect any further argument. The man's mouth opened and closed.

"Very well, Mrs. Brash," said the man, backing down. "We will see to it," he said.

Once the meeting was over Dan was called over by Mrs. Brash. "Well Dan, I was a little surprised by your choice, but I do think it a very noble one. Are you very interested in whales ?" she asked kindly.

"A bit," Dan said. "Well, actually it was a promise I made to a school friend. They wanted to come, but they couldn't. They didn't know it was an MI9 mission," he explained. "It's hard for the other kids sometimes, because we get to do everything and they don't," he added shrugging.

Mrs. Brash smiled widely. "Well, I'm glad I could help," she said, shaking his hand. "I have a feeling we will be meeting again in the future," she said, before walking away with one of her advisors.

================== ooooo ============================

The following week, back at St. Heart's Dan was collared in the corridor by Preston. "You did it ! You actually did it !" said Preston, looking astounded.

Dan shifted uncomfortably. "Well, I tried," he muttered.

"Tried !" Preston pulled out some sheets of paper. "Look, at this," he said and started reading. "From September there will be a full moratorium on the use of sonar around British estuaries, as part of the 'Daniel' amendment to the latest legislation," he read out. "How did you do that ?" he asked in astonishment.

Dan shrugged in embarrassment. "I guess I made the right friends," he said. "You would have done it better. You know loads more about it," he said honestly.

Preston looked down despondently. "No I wouldn't !" he muttered. "I would just have annoyed everybody and nothing would have changed," he groaned.

"Well, you got me to do something, and I'm an idiot," said Dan.

Preston looked at Dan and smiled slightly. "You're no idiot Dan. And thanks for doing it. I really appreciate it," he said.

Dan felt quite touched by Preston's sincerity. Preston really did care about the environment after all and Dan felt a bit of pride in the eccentric boy's attempts to protect the world. After all, that was also what Dan was trying to do in his own way. "You keep on asking Preston. Who knows what will happen ?" suggested Dan, patting Preston on the shoulder. "You might just save the world !" he said with a grin.

THE END


End file.
